


If You Hold On, Life Won't Change

by TwoNerdsWritingFanfiction



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akechi Goro Needs a Hug, Akira kurusu is a little shit, Everyone Needs A Hug, Goro Akechi wheeeeeeee, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, This will make you cry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24815125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoNerdsWritingFanfiction/pseuds/TwoNerdsWritingFanfiction
Summary: Following the death of Goro Akechi, his crush, The Phantom Thieves leader Akira Kurusu falls into a state of guilt. His friends try desperately to help him, but to no avail. He develops a Palace. Now, it's up to his team to fix things...
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro & Persona 5 Protagonist, Akechi Goro & Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 6
Kudos: 55





	1. Prologue.

**_11/19_ ** ****

The calling card was sent the night prior. The Phantom Thieves collectively entered the Palace of Jealousy, pacing quickly through their acquired saferooms until they reached the High Limit floor. They went up the red and black spiraling staircase to reach the Bridge of Scales. One step, then another, and another.

But before they could cross it, Akira hesitated for a moment.

“Go on ahead. Just give me a second. Crow; with me.”

The two of them stepped aside, to the ledge and banister adjacent to the bridge. Akira took a moment to think, obviously distraught. He turned his face away from the princely male before him, hesitating as he slowly removed his mask, allowing his messy black hair to intercept his view. His crimson eyes glanced back and forth, before finally accepting defeat, looking the boy in the eyes.

“Crow.... I mean Akechi... or, I mean-“ Akira said, stumbling over his words, “Goro. I have something I must confess...”

“Yes, what is it..” Goro quietly asked, slowly removing his mask.

“I... I really care about you. Like- uhm- you’re part of our team. But you mean more to me than just any teammate would. I really, really care about you. And, truthfully... I... like you. I love you. Okay?”

Akechi stumbled over his words for a moment, trying to figure out what to say; how to say it.

Instead, he looked Akira in the eyes, put his mask back onto his face, and looked down at the ground, before glancing back up and seeing his leader, the strongest man he knew, with tears in his eyes.

Akechi’s response? A simple nod before turning to join the others. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Once he’d come back from the depths of his mind, getting past the initial shock of Akechi’s disregard for his words, Akira trekked forwards. He followed Akechi towards the others, recollecting the pieces of himself that Akechi seemed to scatter in mere seconds. 

He prepared himself for a battle; the fight that came ahead wouldn’t be easy. Yet, even though he knew what had to be done, his mind was a wreck. He couldn’t bring himself to have passion, or enthusiasm. However, he continued, dragging his black dress-shoes along the shining linoleum floor, making a gentle squeaking noise below him. He knew what had to be done. He pushed through, shoving aside the prior interaction, and came through the large, wooden doorway, prepared for a fight. He knew he was stronger than this. And so, he was. He looked to his left, then his right, then raised his small pistol to the air before firing a single shot.

It was at this moment that he pushed Akira and Joker to be two separate entities. One’s troubles shouldn’t affect the other. The Phantom Thieves of Hearts were prepared, and so was Joker. Akira could recover. But now, for this challenge, his friends needed Joker.

_“Let’s do this.”_

**_11/20_ **

The door opened once again, a familiar face walking in this time along with a guard. Yet the dark atmosphere didn’t change. It seemed to get worse actually. 

The bruised boy sat still as his gaze briefly locked with the other brunette. Once their gaze broke, said brunette was stealing the guards gun and firing. 

The sound of rubber being jostled and moved then filled the silence, followed by Akechi’s words.

“Have you finally pieced it all together?” 

Three slow footsteps coming closer to the criminal boy. 

_Step_

_Step_

_Step_

A gun was pointed at his head, an uncomfortably happy smirk plastered on Akechi’s face. 

“You know, I had thought that the leader of the Phantom Thieves would be more skeptical of his relationships. The whole world was torn; they couldn’t decide whether your group was good or bad, yet you made connections with anyone helpful. You never questioned me or asked why I wanted to wait until the last day. I didn’t give you much choice, but nevertheless. Hell! You even fell in love with me? How stupid could you be? In love with someone who’d sell you out in a heartbeat..! In love with someone _you’d_ sell out in a heartbeat...” 

For just a moment, it seemed as though Joker would get to live. It seemed like the prince had reevaluated the idea. But then the sound of Akechi pulling back on the trigger was heard and his composure was back. 

“Case closed... This is how your ‘justice’ ends.”

Then…

 ** _BANG!_** _  
_ _  
_The sound of a light piece of metal hitting the ground filled the room; the bullet casing making a gentle ringing noise as it bounced on the thick floor. Smoke gently came out of the tip of Akechi’s gun, as he gently blew it away. He placed the gun between the Cognitive Akira’s fingers, in an attempt to make it appear as a suicide.

Once he was satisfied that he’d accomplished his task, he stepped out of the interrogation room. However, once he stepped out of the poorly-lit space, a few tears formed in his eyes. As much as Goro Akechi tried to hold it back, he knew he loved the boy. All that time ago when Akira confessed his love to him, he knew what he wanted to say. He knew what he wanted to tell him.

But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He knew it was wrong; he couldn’t love the scum he believed Akira to be. So, he ignored it. And now, with Akira finally ‘disposed’ of, it would never be a worry again. Or, would it..?

**_12/16_ **

As the fight ended, the group of teens stood across from the fallen detective. The post fight adrenaline was still there but dying down. The tension on the other hand, was growing. 

“You ready to call it quits?”

Skull broke the silence, seemingly unaware of the tension around them. Goro spoke right after the blonde. 

“I know.. I’ve had enough.. You’re so lucky. Lucky to be surrounded.. by teammates who acknowledged you. And once Shido confesses his crimes, you’ll be heroes. As for me, people will find out my past deductions were just charade. My fame and trust will vanish.” 

“.. I see,” was the only response Mona could come up with for a second, “So you were turning people psychotic then solving the cases yourself. And you did that by joining forces with Shido.”

“In the end.. I couldn’t be special..”

Despite what transpired, the team before him immediately began to make comments, bringing him up in a weird backhanded sort of way, while reprimanding him for his crimes and stupid actions as well. But the thieves weren’t there to praise or reprimand Goro, they were there to steal Shido’s heart. To do so, they needed to leave and quickly send the calling card. 

“It’d be a problem if you kept getting in our way. Wanna come along and help us settle things?” Panther asked, the group collectively seeming to agree with that notion since there was no rebuttal. 

This shocked the brunette to no end, “Are you all idiots? You should get rid of me... if you don’t want me getting in your way...”

He was silent for a moment, before a small smile curled on his face and a light chuckle left him. 

“... You truly are beyond my comprehension..” 

Things seemed to lighten up, Goro was done being the antagonist, the thieves were going to leave and send the calling card assumably with Akechi in tow, Joker would be able to talk with him about what transpired in the past few weeks. But all good outcomes come with an equally as bad one.

Another Akechi walked over towards their own..? No. A cognitive one, Shido’s cognitive one... The thieves seemed to realize this as well.

“Akechi..?”

“Another one!? Wait, is he...”

“That’s... Shido’s cognitive version of Akechi!”

An amused chuckle left the cognitive detective as he swiftly pulled a gun and aimed it at the real detective. 

“I’ll deal with the rest of you later,” Cognitive Akechi said, the other people in the room still shocked, “Captain Shido’s orders... He has no need for losers. Well... this just moves the plan up a little. He was going to dispose of you after the election anyway.”

This broke Goro’s silence, a quiet, pained, and shocked ‘What..?’ breathily exiting his mouth.

“Did you truly believe you’d be spared after all the murders you undertook? Don’t tell me... Were you actually feeling good about having someone rely on you for once? Oh! By the way, the captain says it’s time you’re punished for causing the mental shutdowns,” the cognitive Akechi said.

“What the hell, man!? That bastard’s the one who put him up to it!” Skull yelled angrily, having broken from his shocked silence. 

After that outburst, Goro stood with a chuckle. He gave a pained smirk, “I see... I was wondering how he’d protect himself if I used my power to tear through his Palace. Turns out you’re how. So he’s making a puppet kill me... Sounds just like something he’d do.”

The cognitive Akechi merely nodded and spoke in his monotonous voice, “That’s right. I’ll do anything. But look at yourself... you’re the true puppet.” 

His tone went dark, insane and dark. His expression shifted to one of some sick happiness, “You wanted to be acknowledged, didn’t you? To be loved? You’ve been nothing but a stupid puppet from the very beginning.”

“You little..!”

“So this... is how Shido thinks of Goro Akechi... It’s... It’s too horrible!”

“It’s still not too late! We can change his heart together! Even if he’s your father... No, because he’s your father!”

Brave words. Then again, she didn’t have a gun pointed towards her head. She could speak loudly and bravely, yet those words were only a hopeful, childish dream with what was going on before them.

“What’s all this nagging about...? Want me to take care of you first?”, said the cognitive Akechi.

Shadows appeared around the two Akechis. A fair distance away from the thieves but threatening nonetheless. 

“No... He’s not alone! He has shadows too...!?” 

“You know what? I’ll let someone volunteer to take his place. Who knows, you might delay his death.” This triggered a sound from Skull; Pure anger. But, the cognitive boy continued. “You guys are all about doing things for others, aren’t you? Oh, that’s just the same as me. I’m going to take all the blame for our captain. I’ll die for him too.”

“This is what Shido thinks of Akechi-kun, even after making him help with the murders...!?”

“Here, i’ll give you one last chance. Shoot them,” spoke the fake brunette.

“Haha... I was such a fool,” Goro said, standing up straight and pointing the barrel of his gun at Joker for the second time. 

“Yes... That’s what our captain wishes to see.”

“...Don’t misunderstand,” Goro said, pausing for a moment, both brunettes staring at each other intensely, ready for anything. “You’re the one who’s going to disappear..!”

He turned and shot the cognitive Akechi before turning back to the thieves and aiming his gun past Joker’s head once again. His expression softened slightly, the male then shooting a protected button beyond Joker’s head. 

Alarms began blaring. Red lights flashed. An announcement rang through the speakers, “The watertight bulkhead has closed. All personnel within the partition wall, evacuate at once.” That was the only warning the group had before a metal wall rose up between them and Goro.

“What is this!? What’s going on?” 

“Akechi!”

“Hurry up and go!”, Goro yelled. 

“You fool! Are you trying to get yourself killed!?”

“The real fools... are you guys. You should have just abandoned me here a long time ago... You all would’ve lost... if you had tried to win this fight with me weighing you down...” Goro said, coughing, obviously without breath. The light in his eyes slowly came back. The red began to fade, and the gentle brown returned, although the others couldn’t see it.

“Akechi-kun!”

Akechi’s voice softened greatly. He spoke in a gentle, yet fearful voice, “Let’s make a deal... okay? You won’t say no... will you?”

“Why, at a time like this...!?”

“Change Shido’s heart... in my stead... End his crimes... Please...!”

There was no time to waste, yet Joker took a moment. A moment to recollect the shattering pieces of himself and focus with the tears he dared not shed obscuring his vision. He barely stopped himself from collapsing.

“I promise.”

The next sounds and sights were a blur for the dark haired leader. There was yelling, alarms, desperate calls, but only one thing stood out. 

The dual shots heard from just beyond that thin metal wall and Futaba’s confirmation of their loss. Joker’s world seemed to crash around him, every other noise being drowned out by his own internal voice. 

Mona was what brought him back, the cat creature bumping him and looking up at him in concern and sadness. Joker brushed past the others, lifting his hand and making a motion indicating he wanted them to follow...  
  



	2. Discovery.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Thieves, concerned for their leader, try to discover what's wrong. Then, his palace is discovered. Now the only thing left to do is enter..

12/18

As the broadcast played on the little T.V within Leblanc, the thieves watched in anticipation of the outcome. Once Shido had confessed to his crimes the broadcast shut off. The group immediately took this as a victory, cheering and celebrating with food and a toast. 

Once the celebration ended, Akira and Morgana retreated to the attic to sleep. Akira was much more sluggish and down than usual. As he got into his bed, he sat curled up against the wall, holding his little blanket around himself as best he could. Morgana hopped down from his seat on the table by the banister just to strut over to the bed with Akira. The black cat hopped up on the thin mattress and curled up besides the teen.

Morgana looked over at his friend, and noticed the tears in his eyes. He wanted to ask Akira what was wrong; how he could help. But he knew how fragile of a state Akira was in, even if he didn’t know what about. So, he did his best to comfort the boy, pressing himself against Akira’s side, giving him warmth. Akira pulled his head from his knees and gently wrapped his right arm around the soft feline. However, while Morgana drifted off to sleep, Akira was alone with his thoughts…

~~~

As the night went on, even his thoughts quieted and he fell into a deep sleep. Instead of the usual blue light and chains, he saw vines and a dim yellow light as he fell into his deep slumber. When he awoke, he was met with a black ceiling and unfamiliar surroundings. His vision was blurry despite how much he rubbed his eyes. Soon enough, he got up to look around. However, that’s when his real troubles began. Voices began to drown out his rational thought, visions of who he lost and those he wronged came at him in waves. Before he could even stand up straight he was collapsing to the ground. 

The rest of his dream was a painful blur. When he finally found the strength to get up he fell back on this dreamland bed and passed out. 

12/19

When he awoke again he couldn’t seem to escape the visions and voice from the night before. He curled up once again as the voices grew. It overwhelmed him, the voices drowning out everything. The small pats against his side, the calling from downstairs, and even the noises outside his window were disregarded. Soon enough he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, couldn’t move. He was swallowed by his own little cloud of guilt. 

Until he felt it. A warm sensation along his side. It seemed to melt away his guilt and block out the voices. It blocked out everything actually. It felt like a touch. More specifically, a hug, or a gentle pat on the back. He melted into it, beginning to think of this warm touch as the person he missed oh-so-dearly. The pained and fearful expression he wore shifted to a curious and joyful one. He looked around the side that felt warm and fuzzy, looking for the source. When he saw nothing he realized that it wasn’t really there. But he felt it, so it must be something, right? There’s someone with him, he’s sure of it. If they won’t show themselves, he might as well simply indulge in the presence.

“You’re very warm. It’s nice,” he spoke quietly, the small purr he got in response going unnoticed. 

“I can’t see you, but I can feel you? It’s probably weird to you. You can probably see and hear me and must think I'm strange. You’re probably responding and telling me something important. You...” he paused for a moment, “I’m rambling. Thank you. For the warmth.”

~~~

As he continued to talk to his seemingly invisible friend, the black cat he had forgotten became annoyed but overall concerned. Akira was talking to himself? As if someone else was there? Someone else besides himself he means. It worried him to no end. The cat had patted him, nudged him, purred, even called out to him. Yet nothing seemed to shake him from whatever haze had come across him. Was this normal for humans? No. No human he’s seen before has done anything like this. Ignoring everything around you and speaking to yourself? Maybe it was due to the recent events? He knew Akira had dealt with the loss roughly. Joker had led them through the rest of the palace with vigor yet Akira was quiet at the topic and became a mess if it went on too long. The cat decided to watch for a bit. He couldn’t do much without causing the boss to panic. Plus, making his way to the school would be virtually impossible. The school... Akira has school today! If he isn’t down soon, the boss will come up and ‘wake’ him up.

As the cat had predicted, the sound of creaky steps could be heard as the man trekked up towards the attic. Once he got up there he saw the delusional Joker and quirked his head in confusion. Poor Morgana has never wanted to be able to communicate more than now. He expected to have to take a while to try and poorly explain the situation but to his surprise, Sojiro searched the room for a moment before pulling an old blanket from the shelves near the stairs. He shook it out and dusted it off as he laid it over the curled up boy. 

“I have no idea who he’s talking to. But since it isn’t you I can assume there’s something that the adults once again can’t fix. So I’ll leave it up to you and tell the school he’s sick,” was what he said before making his way back downstairs and leaving Morgana to think about this situation more.

~~~

As the day continued on, Morgana became more concerned. Yet he didn’t know what to do or say. He just sat there and watched him. The cat laid besides the delusional teen and waited. He only moved once he heard the familiar ding of the brunettes phone. Morgana fished out his phone using his mouth and placed it on the bed. He tapped around with his paw till he got to his messages. 

The group chat was lively as Ann and Ryuji questioned Futaba of Akira’s whereabouts. The cat decided to try and alert the others of his state. 

\--  
12:30, Ann: Futaba-chan, do you know where Akira was today? I didn’t see him.

12:31, Ryuji: Me either! He went ghost! Like, c’mon! He didn’t respond to me all day!

12:31, Futaba: He wasn’t in class? That’s weird. 

12:32, Makoto: This is his first absence this year. That’s troubling. Should we check on him?

At this time, Morgana had finally gotten a response typed.

12:33, Akira: i thiink hes sick something wrong il wacth him tonight dont woory

12:33, Ryuji: What the ‘eff? Did Morgana just text?

12:34, Ann: If Morgana’s texting then it must be bad. Is he alright? 

12:34, Yusuke: Yes, is Akira well? Are you sure we shouldn’t check on him? 

12:36, Akira: hees not well but ill give him aday to recover

The cat then closed the chat, giving the others time to take in his message and listen for once in their lives. He also didn’t have the energy to fabricate another message. He then curled up again besides the now sleeping Akira. 

~~~

Soon enough, the stairs to the attic began to creak again. An orange haired girl made her way up holding a bowl of curry. She looked at the two beings in the room, nodding at the curled up cat as she walked over to the bed and placed the bowl of curry on the chair besides the bed. 

“How is he? What’s the problem? Once you left I had to convince Skull not to barge in here! Stupid kitty.”

A series of meows was let out from the cat, “He’s talking to himself. And ignoring everyone. He won’t even pet me! I’m worried for him...” 

“That sounds weird.. Especially for him. He even carries you in his bag. And you’re heavy! Well, do you think he’ll eat?”

“We can only hope he does. I’ll make sure he eats! You should go home though, it’s getting late. Wait! I’m not heavy!”

“What if you need me,” she questioned before snickering, “Yes you are!”

“Don’t you have cameras in Leblanc? I’ll hop on a table! Hop on a table, because i’m light and graceful!

“Hmmm, alright ya heavy cat! Keep him alive!” She pinched his cheeks and pet him before happily making her way downstairs and out the door.

Before he could protest, she had left and Akira was waking up. Morgana was determined to get the boy to eat. As soon as Akira woke up, he rubbed his eyes and yawned, looking around tiredly. His eyes stopped on the food. Morgana jumped from the bed to walk over to the chair. He placed his front paws on the seat and used his head to nudge the food forward. Akira took it and silently began to eat. Morgana took that as a win and jumped on the chair to then walk onto the bed. 

Akira quickly finished the bowl of food before beginning to converse with himself. Morgana sighed but listened. Akira mentioned things he hadn’t mentioned before. His hometown, his family, old friends. Morgana was intrigued but before he knew it the brunette was falling asleep. His little information spout was running dry as sleep overcame Akira.

12/19

The next day the cycle continued. Akira woke up and soon he began to talk to himself. He’d wake, be silent for a bit, then begin his conversation. Morgana woke from the noise, stretching and turning towards the teen. He sighed and watched him once again. 

Sojiro made his way upstairs, placing a plate of food on the chair besides the bed and taking the empty bowl of chili. He pet the cat silently before making his way downstairs again. 

Morgana nudged Akira to look at the food which seemed to work since he picked it up and began to eat. Realizing that he could guide Akira he realized he could ask questions.

The only downside was the fact that Morgana didn’t know what to ask. As he thought on it, he became more opposed to his own idea. He sighed as he laid besides Akira and began his interrogation.

“How did you sleep Akira?”

“Well, I told you.”

Morgana felt almost annoyed at the response but realized he had probably said this to whoever was floating besides him. 

“Right! I forgot! Well, How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

He tilted his head in confusion, “Better than?”

“Better than before.”

The cat thought for a moment, “Before? You mean.. when Akechi had just died..?” 

Akira was silent. He curled up, covering his ears and burying his face in his knees. He began to tremble, and shake as he muttered something. 

Although barely audible, the cat made out his repeated mutters, “I must repent, I’ll stay locked in here till I have..”

Morgana sat up, alarmed by his state. He didn’t know how to calm him and he sure as hell didn’t know how to stop him from getting worse. 

“Hey! Hey! You don’t need to stay in here! It’s okay! It’s okay!”

This seemed to only worsen whatever had happened. He shook his head, “I’ll stay here till I repent, in this tower of guilt...”

Morgana didn’t know how to respond. He knew something was wrong but Akira was spiraling and he couldn’t stop or help it. He tried nuzzling Akira and surprisingly enough the brunette seemed to calm. A low purr left the cat as he nuzzled into his side and that seemed to pull Akira from his breakdown. 

Once he was calmer --or at least not shaking and muttering-- he was silent. Slowly but surely he began to pet the cat besides him as he began talking to himself again. 

Morgana sighed when he heard him start talking to himself. But that conversation didn’t prove to be completely bad. While it did hurt Akira and he was sorry for that, he now knew something much more important. Akira seemed to have a palace.

12/20

In the morning after Sojiro had brought up food for Akira, Morgana ran out of the cafe to wander his way to Sojiro’s home. Once he slunk his way into the home he made his way to Futaba’s room and scratched at the door.

Futaba begrudgingly got up and answered her door, looking down at Morgana as he waltzed inside. She sighed and slumped in her desk chair. Morgana hopped up on her bed and made himself comfortable. 

“Why’d you come at ass o’ clock? I’m so tiiiireeeeedddd!”

“It’s important! I need you to tell the others to come over later! You’ll be fine!” 

“No I woooonnnnnnntttt! I’m so tired! What’s so important?”

“He has a palace!”

Futaba shot up, staring at the cat in disbelief. She was shocked silent for a moment. 

“How do you know?”

“He’s acting kinda like you and when I asked him questions he mentioned some tower! Like your tomb!” 

“Are you sure he’s not just..”

“Were you just messing around?”

The girl looked down, feeling a pang of guilt go through her for her rude question. 

“I’m worried about him, Futaba. He just spiraled into this state once we left the palace.”

“You think he feels bad about what happened, you know... in there? I mean, we couldn’t have stopped it...”

“I.. don’t know. Once school’s out we should talk with the others and go in if he has one.”

Futaba merely nodded, turning to grab her phone and open the messenger app. Morgana hopped up into her lap to read as well. 

10:48, Futaba: Meet me at Sojiro’s place.

10:48, Ann: Boss’s house? Why not the hideout per usual?

10:49, Ryuji: Yea? What’s that all about. Akira not up or somethin? If he’s slackin I’ll wack the daylight out of him!

10:49, Futaba: No you barbaric pirate, we need to discuss something about Akira.

10:50, Makoto: Why pray tell, have you used this chat then. He can see these messages can he not. 

10:50, Haru: I agree, doesn’t this seem rude in all forms of the word?

10:51, Futaba: Mwehehehe

10:51, Futaba: i’m 110% sure he won’t read it till muuuuuuuuccchhh later!

10:51, Futaba: wait, where’s inari?

...

...

10:54, Yusuke: My apologies. The teacher was singling me out.

10:55, Futaba: Inari, you’re late!

10:55, Yusuke: We were discussing Akira, yes? What’s happened to him?

10:56, Ryuji: That’s the friggin’ question, but Futaba won’t spill!

10:57, Futaba: Just meet up at Sojiro’s place! Don’t be late! 

After her last message she showed Morgana and smirked. The cat shook his head in disapproval as she chuckled. She then closed the chat and pushed her chair back to spin around. 

“Welp! Time to wait it out..!”

Morgana hopped off of her lap, walking over to the bed and making himself comfortable. He smiled before walking in circles a few times and curling up to sleep. 

Futaba glared at him, huffing as she turned back to her computer to search for more info for other Phantom Thief related things.

As the time passed, both were quiet. The only noise was the sound of breathing and fast typing. What broke the silence was a few loud knocks on the front door. Futaba made a mental note to ridicule Makoto for trying to break her door. She quickly got up and left the room to answer the front door. Once the group of teens were inside she led them to her room, all of them filing in and finding somewhere to comfortably sit or stand. Ann picked up Morgana and put him in her lap as she sat down, Ryuji stood by the closet, Yusuke stood by her action figures, Makoto stood by her computer, and Haru sat besides Ann on the bed. 

“What was so important to discuss without our leader?”

“Well, Inari, our leader can’t know we’re gonna invade his palace.”

Everyone’s interest seemed to peak. The worry flooded in seconds later. 

Makoto spoke up first, “He has a palace? I thought Persona-users couldn’t have them?” 

Morgana, who was now comfortably sitting in Ann’s lap, spoke afterwards, “We don’t know for sure. Not necessarily, I think they can.”

“More of the damn ‘I think’ bullshit?”

Morgana hissed at Ryuji in response to him interrupting. He continued though, “Futaba had a palace and she was a Persona user. The palace started to collapse once she left since she was the treasure. However, I believe if she had stayed, even with her newly-awakened Persona, the palace would have stayed together.”

Haru looked at Mona and pet his head before making a deduction, “Maybe, since Akira has a palace, it’s something that isn’t related to his resolve? Since you said Personas were a manifestation of one’s strong resolve? Assumably, his resolve is towards the bad adults in society right? He is the head of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. So, his ‘distorted desire’ must not be related to it? Or maybe it is related to it, and he can’t use his Persona anymore? Does that mean he’d need a second awakening..?”

“Haru-chan, you’ve begun rambling.”

“Oh! Sorry Mako-chan, everyone! That’s just something I thought of!”

Morgana shrank in on himself after her deduction. He nodded in agreement with her, “We won’t know what it is until we try.”

Yusuke interrupted, “Hold on. We haven’t all decided whether or not to invade his palace. All decisions are unanimous remember?”

Futaba glared at Inari for a moment, “Well, what’s everyone’s stance on it? If he has a palace, are we going in?”

Ann looked up at her, “What if this is really bad? What could possibly have distorted his desires so much so quickly?”

Morgana looked up at her, “He.. he mentioned guilt… Being stuck to ‘repent’...” 

Everyone was silent once more. Ryuji broke the silence.

“From what happened to Akechi in Shido’s..?”

“Well, while you’re reopening old wounds, wanna also remind us how he died?! Jeez!” Ann huffed as she glared him down but didn’t have the energy to continue as her head dropped once again. 

Futaba looked up, “I say we should. I was stuck in my room. I can’t even fathom the idea of leaving Akira in whatever palace he has to fight by himself.”

The others slowly came to agree, their determination coming back quickly. 

Makoto cleared her throat, “Since it seems to be unanimous. It’s a good time to say I checked the nav and… I got a hit. All we need are the other two keywords.”

Ryuji perked up, “I can’t be wrong here. Is the Attic or Leblanc a hit?”

Makoto nodded, “One more. What would he perceive it as..?”

Futaba looked up, “Maybe a tomb like me?”

Makoto shook her head. 

“Before we figure it out, Why don’t we go to Leblanc’s entrance? So we don’t accidentally enter the metaverse super far away like Futaba’s palace. Just in case it’s dangerous,” Yusuke said, beginning to gather his stuff and head for the room's exit. The others quickly followed suit. 

The walk to Leblanc was silent. The group didn’t particularly know what to discuss. Mindless banter would be an easy fill yet the situation seemed too serious to joke around. Talking about the topic was out, they were much too anxious for that. As they approached Leblanc, Makoto took out her phone once again.

“Back to guessing I guess.”

Ryuji snickered quietly.

“Ooo! What about a school? I mean it’s a simple distortion”, Ann said.

Makoto shook her head.

“A prison?”

Makoto shook her head.

Morgana jumped up onto a counter besides the shop. He pawed at the others, turning their attention to him. He spoke up, “Try tower, maybe? He said that while he was rambling to himse—“

Makoto nodded. “It’s a hit.” The world around them began to distort.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is co-written! We'll upload as often as possible! There's two writers working on it, Theodore and Keiko! If you'd like, you can follow either of us on Instagram to give us feedback (if you don't want to write a comment!)  
> Follow us at @Kueruzu8 or @photographsandbourgeoisie !  
> Leave a 'Kudos' if you feel like it!


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